Chart 1
Chart 2
Chart 3
Chart 4
seven years is for insurance to have increased the most within the four cost categories, although for 2007 and in comparison to the previous year, it shows the second smallest increase at 6.5%, with crew costs the lowest at 4.6%. The biggest increase again this year is found in stores, with a 20 index points (14%) increase from last year. Repairs and maintenance follows with an 11.2% increase.
OpCost Tanker Indices
Tankers, similar to bulkers, show that insurance cost has seen the biggest increase over the period of the indices, but for a second consecutive year it has had the smallest increase on a year-on-year basis at 3.9%. Following a significant increase in luboil costs in 2007, the increase in the stores index is again the highest for tankers, at a similar level to the previous year, amounting to a 15% year-on-year increase. Crew costs also experienced a significant increase for tankers at 11.5%, whilst repairs and maintenance were not far behind at 9.8%.
OpCost Container Ship Indices
Costs on container ships show different trends to bulkers and tankers, with the stores index exceeding the insurance index over the last two years. For 2007 the most significant increase is in crew costs at 33 index points and a 26% yearon-year change. The increase in the stores total for 2007 is 9.6%, mostly driven by the substantial increase in the cost of lubricants. However, this is the lowest increase in stores this year amongst the three vessel types. Then follows repairs and maintenance with an increase of 8.9%, whilst insurance shows the smallest increase at 7.2%, similar to last year.
Total Operating costs
in total operating costs between 2006 and 2007. Changes in operating costs for bulkers and tankers follow similar patterns. Generally, greater increases are occurring with the smaller vessel types, while the increases in larger tonnage types are more modest. Product tankers experienced the greatest increase within the tanker sector for a second consecutive year with an increase of 14.4%. A significant increase was also seen with Panamaxes (11.7%), while Aframax, Suezmax and VLCC tankers changed around the same level, with increases in the 810% range. With the bulker tonnage, the smaller bulk carriers seem to provide the largest year-onyear increases, with Handymax and Handysize bulkers being the most significant, with an average increase of 7.7%. However, the increase this year was almost half in comparison to the previous year's increase for the same tonnage. The larger bulkers experienced more modest increases. Container ship types experienced the greatest increases amongst the main vessel types this year, in the range of 14-19%. These increases are mostly attributed to increases in crew costs, stores and repairs and maintenance. In contrast to 2006, this year the smaller tonnage experienced the greatest increase at 18.8%, followed by Container Main Liner at 15.7%. Ro-Ros, Reefers and Dry Cargo vessels also saw increases in total running costs, with Ro-Ros and Reefers experiencing significant increases of 18.4% and 11.8% respectively. (see chart 2)
Crew Wages
Overall, the increases in crew wages during 2007 were significantly less marked than in 2006, but all vessel types experienced increases. Bulk carriers experienced the lowest increases, ranging from 2.3% to 3.8%.
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All vessel categories experienced an increase
January 2009